Evolution
by Kirsteena
Summary: The evolution of Artie and Tina's friendship.
1. Despair

This hopefully will turn out to be a 10 chapter fic, following the evolution of Artie and Tina's rekindled friendship through latter half of Season 2. The first six chapters will be set against episodes, and will pretty much follow canon fitting in with my view. After that, completely AU, unless of course, RIB sees sense and rekindles Artina. All prompts are for the LJ challenge at 10_hurt_comfort. This first one, obviously, is despair.

Glee is owned by Fox, and Ryan Murphy Productions. No copyright infringement is intended, this is just for my playtimes. Unbetaed, and many thanks and internet cookies to Brianna for her help and support.

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><p>In the end, none of the teachers would chaperone the Brainiacs on their trip to Detroit. Typical of what was expected at McKinley High – unless a teacher was personally invested in an activity, none of them wanted to know, even if it helped to improve the school's reputation. It was the academic decathlon Nationals, someone should be taking note of what they were doing for the school, but as usual, unless it involved Sue Sylvester, the students were left to flounder on their own.<p>

Artie's dad had volunteered to take them there after arriving home one evening when he saw both Artie and his girlfriend despondent over the fact that they couldn't go, though his condition was that they try to make sure that the school actually supply the funding for the trip – it was a school activity, therefore should be the recipient of school funding. When Sandy Ryerson donated the money after that fateful _Night of Neglect_ concert, Mr. Abrams followed through on his promise, and the four Brainiacs found themselves travelling towards Detroit early on Friday evening in the Abrams family van.

"Singalong!" Brittany had said almost as soon as they had picked Mike and Tina up, bouncing in her seat beside Artie. It had taken Artie five minutes to remind her to put her seatbelt on, and it looked as if it wouldn't stay on for very long. She bent down, digging in her purse."I made a mix cd. Could you please put it on, Mr A?" she asked, leaning forward to pass the CD to Artie's dad.

Artie's dad glanced quickly at his son, then nodded. "Sure, Brittany," he said, with a smile for his son's girlfriend, taking the disc off her and slipping it in the CD player. The sounds of _My Headband_ came out of the player, causing Mike, Tina and Artie to look at each other in horror.

"Can we skip forward a track?" Artie asked, glancing at Brittany. "We should save that for after we win, maybe?" Anything to stop it playing now. Thankfully the next track was a Ke$ha song, which had the four of them singing along, passing the time as they travelled quickly.

After an hour, Artie's dad pulled into a rest stop. "Quick break, guys, then no more till we reach the motel." Brittany and Mike dived out of the van as fast as they possibly could, laughing as they ran, chasing each other as they ran towards the bathroom. Artie's dad exited next, leaving Tina and Artie behind.

Tina turned to look at Artie, who had made no move to even unbuckled his belt, let alone leave the van. "Staying here?" she asked, cocking her head slightly as she looked at him.

"Yeah," he said, giving her a small smile. She looked more closely at him, and she could tell that he was hiding something, that there was something almost wistful about his expression. She frowned slightly at him. "Takes too long for me to get out of the van and back in again. Dad only wants to make a short stop," he explained.

"It hardly seems fair," she said, hopping up beside him, but leaving the door open for fresh air. "I mean, don't you need to break too?"

"Nah, it's only another hour or so to Detroit. Dad knows what Brittany is like - we took her to Columbus when it was my Nana's birthday. Let's just say the trip was interesting," Artie laughed. "Dad now knows to stop to let her burn off some energy."

"Do I want to know how bad it was?" Tina said, laughing in return. She couldn't help herself - it was infectious.

"When we got there, it took a good three hours for her to burn off the energy at the other end," Artie said, grinning. "I had to take her with my cousins to the park so they could just run. I swear Brittany lasted longer than James." Artie's younger cousin, James, was considered the tearaway kid by the rest of the family. Tina had met most of Artie's cousins back in freshman year, when they'd become best friends and done virtually everything together, including several trips to Columbus.

"That's... okay, that kind of doesn't surprise me," Tina laughed in return. "Mike can be the same - too much pent up energy. I think it's something related to dance ability. But that still doesn't explain why you are staying in the car."

"I'm fine till we get there," Artie said, trying to give her a reassuring grin. "It's fine, Tina."

But she didn't quite believe him.

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><p>After arriving at the motel, they split off into two rooms; Mike and Artie in one, Brittany and Tina in the other. Artie's Dad was staying with Mike and his son, so both couples knew there would be no sneaking around to spending time with their other halves. Mike lay on his bed, throwing a hacky sack at wall. "Dude, it's so not fair," he grumbled.<p>

Artie was carefully unpacking his things, but he turned to smirk at Mike. "Ruin your romantic plans?" he said, teasing Mike. He'd personally have liked some alone time with Brittany, but that wasn't going to happen until they got back home.

"Seriously, between mine and Tina's parents, alone time is a rare thing," Mike said, the hacky sack hitting the wall at regular intervals. "I don't know how you manage it."

"Britt's parents are fine with it," Artie said, grinning at Mike. "Honestly, I think they are just happy she has a stable relationship, instead of different guys home every week."

"I could hate you, you know," Mike said, throwing the small ball at Artie, who grinned as he caught it, tossing it back at Mike.

"Everyone loves me," Artie grinned back at his friend.

However, later on that night, Artie found he couldn't sleep. Mike was out like a light, and his Dad was snoring away, as usual. He idly wondered how his Mom actually coped with how badly his dad snored. It was bad enough suffering it for one night, let alone every night. He quietly transferred himself to his wheelchair, and opened the door to their room, having grabbed his key on the way out. He'd go get a soda from the machine he'd seen earlier, then head back, trying to sleep again. He certainly didn't expect to run into Tina, who had obviously had the same idea.

"So stranger, what are you doing here?" he asked in a low, light voice as he approached her.

"Brittany talks in her sleep," Tina said with a small moan. "She was talking about 'My Little Pony' when I left..."

"Oh yeah. I should have warned you. Sorry," Artie said, giving his friend a wry smile. "She mostly does it when she is in a strange place."

"Well thanks, friend! I should have brought ear plugs. Why are you out here?"

"I need ear plugs too," Artie shrugged, digging in his wallet for coins to buy the soda. "Dad snores like... well I'm not sure there is a comparison. I'm amazed Mom puts up with it. That, and I always find it difficult to sleep in a strange bed. They are never as comfortable as mine at home."

"This doesn't bode well for New York," Tina said, pulling a face. She'd gotten her can, and opened it, taking a long drink from it. She spotted a seat close by and walked over to it, sitting down. Artie got his can, dropped it into his lap, and wheeled over to her, settling himself opposite her.

"Yeah, how do you think it's going to work? I mean, there is what, thirteen of us now? Seven girls, six boys. Mr Schue wouldn't just go for two rooms, would he? Cause being in a room with Finn and Puck would be hell." Artie pulled a face. It was bad enough going away to a city like New York and sharing rooms with people he didn't really know. Knowing what he had to go through just to go to the bathroom, with potentially five other people in the same room as him? Some of them would be okay, but he knew that he would get stares from his friends in a way he hadn't had to deal with for quite some time, since he first joined the football team. Puck was one of his closest friends, but that didn't mean he wanted to be seen to take a catheter into the bathroom.

"I don't know. It wouldn't actually surprise me if he did, though," Tina replied, giving him a sympathetic look. "It'll be fine, Artie. You've come on leaps and bounds this year." To her eyes, he had. She might not have agreed with his reasons for joining the football team, and been worried about him, but he seemed a whole lot more settled than he had when they had been dating. She idly wondered if it was something to do with her. Had she held him back, not let him reach his true potential?

"You think?" Tina was surprised by how hopeful the look he gave her was. It was like he needed some confirmation that yes, he had grown up, accepted the limitations his disability had given him, and was working to the limit of his current abilities, pushing himself as far as he could.

"I think so, Artie. I mean, look at you. How many disabled kids have won their Letterman jackets by being in the school football team?" she grinned at him. "Even if you do need Puckerman to push you down the field."

Artie glared at her for a moment, then laughed, Tina joining in. Any tension between them regarding the football team, and why he had joined it had dissipated. In that moment, they were just the Artie and Tina of old, friends who got each other, and shared so many experiences.

"I missed this," Artie said suddenly, giving her a shy look as he admitted something very personal to him.

"Me too. I mean... I don't blame you for hating me after everything that happened. I'm just glad we've moved on enough to be able to do this."

"Yeah," Artie agreed, nodding slowly. "I mean, I did hate you, kind of. But I think I hated myself more when I really thought about it. I kind of screwed things up, after all."

"We both did." It was the first time they had really sat down and talked even vaguely about what had happened that last summer that saw them drifting apart - and the first time Artie had admitted that he was at least partly at fault. "Brittany has been good for you." Sure, Tina found them disgustingly cutesy at times, but she could see how Artie had improved as a boyfriend over the few months they had been dating. He really had taken on board what she had said.

"And Mike's been good for you," Artie admitted in return. He hated the fact that technically she had cheated on him, but he could see the change in Tina. She was more open, more confident than she had even been with him. Though she did seem to cry more than she had ever done with him. Maybe that was the trade off. "Maybe we just work better as friends?" he suggested, before giving her a shy look.

Tina gave him a thoughtful look, then began to speak slowly. "I think... that maybe you're right," she agreed with him, before smiling at him. "Proper friends again?"

"Yeah."

They hadn't truly expected to win, however much they had hoped for it. But that last tie-breaker was easy thanks to Ms. Holliday, and the trophy was theirs, not that they expected much to come of it, other than their own happiness. No matter what happened with Glee, they had won something. It would just make the trip to New York that much sweeter if they placed.

The trip back to Lima was much quieter, with both Mike and Brittany crashing out asleep, having run about wildly celebrating their win. For Tina and Artie however, something had changed. They sat next to each other on the trip back, listening to Tina's iPod, sharing a set of headphones, very much like old times. Artie was content. He had his girlfriend, he had his best friend back.


	2. Yearning

Moving onto episode 2, carrying on the 10_hurt_comfort prompts, this one is 'yearning'. The AXIS Dance Company are a real dance company, and the first thing I noticed was the casters. I can't help it, I find things like that interesting!

Glee is owned by Fox, and Ryan Murphy Productions. No copyright infringement is intended, this is just for my playtimes. Unbetaed, and many thanks and internet cookies to Brianna for her help and support.

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><p>The flash mob had dispersed quickly after the performance, most of them coming up to Rachel, telling her how amazing she was... and trying to encourage her not to have a nose job. It didn't take long for only the New Directions members to be left standing in a loose circle around Rachel.<p>

"That was fun!" Brittany bounced on the spot, before hugging Rachel. "We should do this more often."

"Yeah," Mercedes said, tucking her arm through Kurt's, looking at the others. "And better because we're all here. It's so good to have you back, Kurt. We missed you."

Puck put his fist out for a fist bump from the countertenor, to which Kurt just raised an eyebrow and ignored it. "C'mom, Hummel. You've gotta admit it, this was a success today."

Kurt looked at Puck through narrowed eyes, before smiling slightly. "Okay, you might have a point. It did go rather well, didn't it?"

"Stop gloating," Rachel said, hugging Puck then tucking her arm into Kurt's free one. "Since we are all here, should we go get something to eat?"

"Pizza!" Finn said excitedly, leading to groans from some of the other kids.

"This is a food mall. The chances of getting vegan pizza in a food mall are minimal at best, most likely non-existant," Rachel said. "I was thinking more of going to Breadstix."

"Really? Like that's better?" Lauren said, scoffing at Rachel. "Because they are so vegan there."

"Enough arguing," Kurt said, holding his hands up. "This is supposed to be a happy occasion, not a bitchy one. We can grab something to drink here, then head out to Breadstix for this evening. How about that?"

Everyone nodded in agreement, gathering up their belongings and beginning to move towards the food court, well, everyone except for Brittany, who was looking around. Tina walked up to her, a look of concern crossing her face. "What's up, Brittany?" she asked.

"I've lost Artie," Brittany replied, looking around forlornly, trying to find her missing boyfriend.

Tina glanced around, trying to remember when she'd last seen her friend. He'd definitely been there for the flash mob, but she couldn't remember seeing him afterwards, when they'd gathered together. It was like he'd just... vanished. "Did he say anything to you?" she asked, glancing around, seeing if she could spot the familiar figure.

"He said he had to go and do something, that he wouldn't go far," she said, glancing at Kurt and the others as they headed to the food court, then back at Tina. "He wouldn't tell me what."

Then, suddenly it struck her. The mall. The time of year. Tina put on a smile and faced Brittany. "I've got an idea. Tell you what, why don't you go and catch up with the others, and I'll bring Artie to you. I think I know where he is."

Brittany flashed a brilliant smile at Tina. "You will? That would be super awesome if you did find him." Brittany moved close, hugging Tina, then turning to skip towards the rest of the group, pinky linking with Santana. Tina watched them leave for a moment, then shook her head, trying to focus on what she was doing. She had a feeling she knew exactly where Artie was.

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><p>She was right. She ran past a few shops, and found him sitting outside a shop they had visited together a little over a year ago. He was opposite the main window, in a relatively quiet part of the mall, staring at the display. She slowed down, creeping up to him as she walked closer to him. "Hey," she said eventually in a quiet voice, not wanting to scare him.<p>

He jumped as she spoke. He'd been so lost in thought that he wasn't aware of anything going on around about him. He blinked, focusing back on the present before giving Tina a guilty look. "Sorry," he said, before studying his hands which were folded in his lap.

Tina frowned, moving round in front of him. "For what?" she said, kneeling down and peering at him, before she was suddenly struck by a memory of doing something similar to this in the school corridor last year, right before she asked Mike Chang to be her dance partner, with Artie singing the song. She knew it had been hard for him to accept, however much he pretended that he was okay with her choice, but equally she had been so worried about him at the time that she hadn't truly enjoyed the performance, even though it led to her and Mike talking more, and eventually going to Asian camp together and everything that happened after that. She looked up into Artie's face. He was obviously trying to hide his emotions, but she could see them clearly if she looked in his eyes. This was an intensely personal moment for him, and one she couldn't help feeling she was intruding on it. "Don't be," she said quietly. "I thought I might find you here."

Artie dipped his head, embarrassed. "Yeah, sorry, couldn't help myself. I guess I was kind of berating myself for not taking the shoes back. They were a bit of a waste of money since they are just gathering dust at the back of my closet."

"You don't have to apologize to me," Tina said firmly, before putting both hands on the arms of his wheelchair, and looking up into his face. "I'm the last person you should be apologizing to for this. As I recall, I encouraged you. A lot."

"It's okay," Artie said, giving her a small smile, reassuring her for the first time since the start of this conversation. "It was a stupid dream anyway. I should have known not to dream the impossible."

"Stop it," Tina said, sharper than she intended, but it achieved what she had been aiming for - Artie to stop self-flagellating. "You are far, _far_ better than this." He didn't answer, but he gave her a curious look. "You, Artie Abrams, are one of the best dancers in Glee, however much you try to deny it. Look at what you did when you went through that weird Bieber phase with the other guys? Okay, so in retrospect, it was incredibly cheesy for you to sing Bieber like that, and for truly _terrible_ reasons, but that song you did? It was awesome the way it turned out. Who choreographed it?"

"Mike mainly, though he and I tried to figure out the best way I could 'dance' with them," Artie said shrugging slightly.

"Okay, buster," Tina said, pursing her lips together and staring at him. "Why do you doubt what you can do like this? Trust me, what you and Mike put together? That was dancing. There is no other way to describe it."

"Because it doesn't feel like it," Artie said, sighing. "Dancing for me is standing up, in front of a group of people, and moving my legs." His expression was pained, and he glanced briefly at Tina before turning away again. She was still the only person who'd ever known about his dream, and he felt vulnerable right now.

"Artie," Tina said softly, waiting until he turned and looked at her. "You _are_ a good dancer. Sure, you might not be able to move your legs, you know what I've learned since then? I've watched you, and I've seen just how well you move. If you weren't in a wheelchair, you would be a good dancer, but in your wheelchair... you're great." When she caught Artie's eyes, she was stunned to see moisture in his eyes, and she could feel herself tearing up as well in response. She had really wanted him to dance with her a year ago... and she had that same feeling right here and now. It didn't matter if he was in a wheelchair or not, they could do it, she knew. She had a glimmer of an idea, and smiled at him.

"What?" Artie said, suspiciously.

"Wait and see," Tina replied, still smiling at him.

"Tina... you really think I'm a good dancer?" Artie asked suddenly. She could hear the weight behind the question.

"Yeah. You are. You can keep up with all the choreography we do, and it looks really good. Sure, you can't tap, but who needs to be able to?" she answered, carefully.

"You tap. Very well, as I recall," he pointed out, pouting slightly.

"Artie. You're hardly tap dancer material. You're kinda more... hip hop than Fred Astaire," she replied, grinning at him, watching as his pout changed into a shy smile. Artie looked at her for a moment longer, then nodded, as if in agreement. "Come on. Brittany is waiting on you. She asked me to come and find you. We're going to grab coffee, then go to Breadstix later on as a celebratory meal, or really just any excuse, and Brittany was all upset when she couldn't find you. Santana was comforting her when I remembered where you might be."

"Then it's time to find my girlfriend and reassure her," Artie grinned back at Tina, as he unlocked his wheels. Tina moved to the familiar position behind his wheelchair, pushing him through the crowds as they went to meet up with their friends.

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><p>The weekend had passed when Tina skipped alongside him at the lockers. He'd been emptying his bag, ready for the Glee rehearsal that was to follow, pulling out the t-shirt he'd had made for the Lady Gaga assignment, when he looked up to see his friend standing beside him, smirking. He raised an eyebrow at her. She was far too chirpy for a Monday.<p>

"Have you got a few minutes?" she asked, bouncing on the spot. He looked closely at her. She was suppressing amusement, and had something hidden behind her back. He nodded at her. "Somewhere quiet?" Artie looked around, suggesting the choir room. They had a few minutes before everyone else was due to arrive. Tina agreed, pushing Artie's wheelchair into the choir room. She parked it next to a chair, and sat down beside him, handing over a DVD to him.

"What's this?" Artie asked, turning the disk over in his hand, frowning slightly.

"It's some research I did online," Tina said, pulling her laptop out of her backpack, waking it up, and taking the disc from him. She put it in the drive, and when it spun up, opened her media player, passing the laptop back to Artie, letting him see the scenes of wheelchair dancing she had found on Youtube. Artie stared at the screen, watching as two dancers, one in a wheelchair, one able bodied, danced. "They're called the AXIS Dance Company," she explained, as he watched, fascinated. "I saw it, and thought of you. One of the guys in a chair... his front casters light up like yours do." Artie looked up at her at that, looking at the shy smile she had as she waited for him to react.

"Really?" He glanced at her, but quickly his eyes back focusing on the screen, taking in the fluid motion of the dancers. "Why did you do this for me?" he asked suddenly, pausing the video to focus on her.

Tina sighed, twisting in her chair slightly to face him. "You needed to see that you _can_ still be a dancer if you want. Not quite in the way you thought, but it's still dancing, you can't deny that."

Artie look at her, giving her a familiar smile, one that she actually hadn't seen for quite some time. A smile she used to see a lot while they were dating. "Thanks, Tina," he said quietly. He didn't actually know how to say anything else to that.

"Oh, I got you something else," Tina said suddenly, reaching into her bag once more, and pulling out something small. "Hold out your hand and close your eyes." Artie did so, holding out his right hand, palm up. Tina paused for a moment, before tying something round his wrist. "Okay, you can open them now."

Artie did, glancing down at his wrist. On it was a bright purple friendship bracelet. The year before, Tina and he had shared friendship bracelets regularly, but since Tina had started dating Mike, the exchange had stopped. This was the first time that she had made one for him it in nearly a year. He smiled up at Tina. "Thank you. For everything."

Tina nudged his shoulder with her, smiling back at him. "Anytime."


	3. Anger

Moving onto episode 3, carrying on the 10_hurt_comfort prompts, this one is 'anger', taking place during 2x19, Rumors. It's probably fairly obvious what it's relating to. Many thanks to those who have review/alerted this story. It always makes my day when I get a review!

Glee is owned by Fox, and Ryan Murphy Productions. No copyright infringement is intended, this is just for my playtimes. Unbetaed, and many thanks and internet cookies to Brianna for her help and support.

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><p>He felt numb. No, if he was being truthful, he didn't know what he felt. Ashamed. That was part of it. He'd idiotically called his very own girlfriend stupid, and then been crushed when she'd told him that he'd been the only person in the whole school who had never once called her that. Hell, he'd even been the one to encourage her to join the Brainiacs - okay, they were desperate, but she'd proved to be a genius in the cat diseases catagory, and she certainly retained enough of the information she heard at school to be an asset in the long run – after all, they'd won Nationals. He never thought she was stupid.<p>

He'd just been frustrated. Finding out that all this time, all those weekends and evenings she'd spent time with Santana, she'd been... He closed his eyes, briefly, fighting back the image of his beautiful girlfriend entangled in Santana's limbs, writhing in ecstasy. It made him feel physically sick. For Santana to use Brittany like that, to make her believe that just because the plumbing was different, it wasn't cheating? How could she do that to someone she called her best friend? Deliberately lying to her like that? He just didn't understand how it could have happened. He knew Brittany didn't always comprehend what was going on around her, but he did his best to try and help her understand and help her learn in her own way, but Santana had just stomped all over that.

He wondered how many people had realized what was going on, how many people were laughing at him behind his back. He felt like an idiot, much like he'd done at the beginning of the school year, when he should have realized what was going on with Tina and Mike, and how it subsequently made him feel. Yes, he missed Tina, and had wanted her back, but he felt that in retrospect he should have seen it coming. With Brittany, in a way he had, but he hadn't wanted to accept it.

He went through his classes in a daze. He was aware that he was in the same class as Brittany for history, but she sat at the back, and he sat in his usual place next to Finn. He glanced round once or twice, but she was mostly staring out of the window, or doing anything she could do avoid looking at him. He couldn't even have told you what they did in Geometry, even though Puck spent most of the class passing notes to him, which he ignored. He didn't need Puck's, or anybody's sympathy.

After Geometry he went to his locker, pulling out the books for his next class. He caught sight of the picture of Brittany he had inside his locker, and frowned. He stared at it for a moment, suddenly realizing what he'd lost with one stupid sentence. He glanced up as a shadow appeared in front of him. It was Tina, her arms crossed as she looked at him.

"Is it true?" she asked when she was satisfied that she had his attention.

"Is what true?" he replied, dropping his eyes and refusing to meet her gaze. He really wasn't in the mood to discuss this with his ex-girlfriend of all people, but he knew exactly what it was that she was fishing for information about. He suddenly felt very defensive about the whole thing.

"You know very well. Santana is telling anyone who will listen that you like kicking puppies when they are down, and in your spare time you're telling Brittany that she's stupid. Is it true?" Tina asked once again. Artie glanced up at her. Tina was glaring at him, her arms still crossed, and she looked angry.

"That I kick puppies when they are down? It's amazing what I can do when I put my mind to it." Maybe if he was overly sarcastic, she would go away, leave him alone so he could be miserable on his own. "Now just go away." He emptied some of his books out of his book bag, putting them in his locker. Suddenly he found his hands yanked away, and his locker door slammed shut. He looked up at Tina, shocked at her response. She stared down at him, not bothering to hide her disgust at his behaviour. Or maybe that was him projecting his own feelings.

"Why the hell would you do something as _idiotic_ as calling Brittany stupid?" she demanded of him. "I thought you'd learned from what we went through, that you'd grown up, become a better boyfriend?"

Something inside Artie snapped, and he pursed his lips as he looked at her. "Well, considering that she was cheating on me with Santana, who'd told her that 'because the plumbing was different that it was all okay', don't you think I might have had a little bit of an excuse for speaking without thinking first? I apparently have 'cheat on me' written on my forehead, because that's all girls seem to do with me." He threw his book bag over the handles of his wheelchair, and turned to wheel away from her as fast as he could, mentally cursing himself. He'd just managed to repair his friendship with Tina to something approaching what they had before, and he did that? Really? Two stupid things said in one day? Dumb move, Abrams.

"Artie, wait..." he heard from behind him, but he ignored her, rushing to his next class, a class he knew he didn't have with Tina, or Brittany, or anyone with Glee apart from Quinn, and he was grateful that she was barely talking to anyone apart from trying to get votes for Prom Queen. She wouldn't deign to talk to him, let alone blame him for something he said.

He sat, doodling in his notebook and brooding all through the class, not listening to the teacher. He shouldn't have said that to Tina. Yes, technically she cheated on him last summer, but when he looked back in it, she might just have had good reason for it. He ihad/i ignored her in favour of Halo, but he'd had his reasons. He just never could explain them to her, he got too embarrassed. He was an idiot. An idiot who didn't know a good thing when it was right in front of him.

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><p>And then there came Glee. He was quiet, keeping himself very much to himself as he listened to Rachel's... interesting version of 'Go Your Own Way', though he couldn't have told you anything about what she sounded like if you asked him. He kept glancing over at Brittany, who was sitting on her own. It would have been so easy to go over to her, to apologize for his behaviour. She'd forgive him, take him back, they'd go home together and everything would be alright... but he couldn't do it. He couldn't stand the fact he'd been cheated on, that Santana had valued him so little that she'd encouraged it. He left the Glee rehearsal as soon as it was over, not hanging about afterwards with his friends like he normally would. He couldn't take the looks of pity that came from them. She'd pretty much ignored him throughout the rehearsal, apart from one moment when they'd caught each other's gaze. She wasn't giving anything away about how she felt, and somehow that made things worse. He'd broken eye contact with her, feeling something akin to shame. Mercedes had called out to him as he left, but he ignored her, wanting to get out of the school and home as fast as possible, so he could wallow in his misery in the peace and quiet of his room.<p>

He wasn't going to get that luxury, though. As soon as he entered the house, wheeling into the living room to say hello to his mother, she took one look at him, and immediately came over and hugged him, before running her hands through his hair.

"You need another haircut," she murmured to him.

"Mom, I'm fine," Artie snapped at her, wheeling back out of her hug. She looked down at him, frowning slightly.

"Artie...?"

"Look, Mom. I'm seventeen. I don't need you to cut my hair anymore."

Mrs Abrams was silent for a moment, though she couldn't help herself, and ran her fingers though his hair once more, though Artie flinched away from the touch. He seemed to regret it immediately afterwards and leaned against his mom, who'd sat on the edge of the sofa. "I broke up with Brittany," he said quietly after a moment. He needed to talk to someone, and who better? His Mom had been there through so much with him, sometimes she was the only person he could talk to, even though her attitude to him sometimes frustrated the hell out of him. "She was cheating on me." He was silent, just sitting there, leaning against his Mom. "And I yelled at Tina."

"Oh, Artie," she said eventually, kissing him softly on the top of his head. "What happened with Brittany?"

He explained how he'd found out she was cheating on him, and the conversation they'd had, and the subsequent reaction. Mainly he was just glad to be able to freely talk about it. For once, his mother sat and listened without interrupting him, without trying to influence him. It was a sudden change – ever since the accident she'd been highly protective of him – almost to the point of smothering him, but today it was different. It was like she was treating him as if he was finally growing up.

Eventually she stood up, kissing him one more time. "I'm not going to tell you what to do, sweetheart. That's something you've got to figure out. But if you have apologies to make, don't wait too long. That's what I always taught you, remember? And... how about you get a proper haircut, just for prom? Find out where your friend Kurt gets his hair cut, go there?"

Artie looked up at his mother, smiling gently. "Yeah, that sounds good. Call me when dinner's ready? I think I need to lie down for a bit." His mother nodded, before heading towards the kitchen. Artie left, heading to his bedroom. Once he got there, he wheeled himself close to his bed, and he transferred himself onto it, staring at the ceiling as he tried to come to terms with everything that had happened. How could he make things right again?

His mom was right though. He had apologies to make, and he owned up to his mistakes. Brittany would have to wait until she'd calmed down, but he could do one thing right now. He grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket, and opening a new message sent a simple text to Tina.

_I'm sorry._

It wasn't until late that evening, just before he went to bed, that he found a response, one that made him smile, though he was curious about the wording.

_Thank you._


End file.
